1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an information providing medium and, more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an information providing medium that search moving pictures and process the obtained moving pictures.
2. Description of Related Art
With a video tape recorder for example, popularly known methods for searching scenes to be viewed or edited from a moving picture that takes long for reproduction include still, slow, queue, review, and other variable-speed reproduction techniques. Movie advertisements for example frequently use a technique of cutting out very short portions of a moving picture and connecting the cutouts to summarize the content of the original moving picture.
For another searching method, video-on-demand uses a method of using a plurality of channels, which are switched between for reproducing and displaying a moving picture from a desired position at constant intervals. Further, for a method of searching a moving picture stored in a computer, a technique is known in which a plurality of still pictures included in a moving picture are simultaneously displayed on a monitor screen at predetermined constant time intervals.
When the variable-speed display is used, only a moving picture at one time point can be displayed at a time in a picture search operation, thereby requiring a certain time for picture search. A moving picture in which the content of a long moving picture requires a certain time for checking the content of the summary picture. In addition, a picture desired by a user is not always included in that summary picture.
If the method of reproducing and displaying a moving picture from a given position at certain intervals is used, checking the content of the reproduced picture takes time and a desired picture is not always included in a selected channel. The method of displaying a still picture included in a moving picture at certain time intervals requires to display many pictures; in this case, a desired picture is not always included in that still picture.
Thus, the known methods do not allow a user to check, at desired time intervals and in a desired quantity, the still pictures at given point of time, included in a moving picture to be searched, thereby makes it significantly difficult for the user to quickly search and use the content of moving pictures.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an information providing medium that allow a user to check, at desired time intervals and in a desired quantity, still pictures at desired points of time, included in a moving picture to be searched.